Field-cover.



`L. P. DEBE.

FIELD COVER.

Patented Feb. 24, 19ML 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ABPLIOATION FILED FEB.26, 1913.

' LOSSAOZ L. P. DEER.

FIELD COVER. APPLIGATIoN FILED PBB.26,1913,

1,088,407w Patented @10.24, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

INVENTOR N MPM HLM.,

L. P. DERR.

FIELD COVER.

APPLICATION FILED 21.113.26, 191s.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVEITOR UNITED STATES LEIDIT. DEER, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

FIEID-COVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

Application filed February 23, .1913.- Seal No. 750,734.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, LEID P. Drum a citizen ofthe United States, and resi in l in the city of Pittsbur h in the countyof llegheny and State o? Bennsylvania, have invented or discovered newand useful Improvements in Field-Covers, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention consists in new and useful improvements in covers forplaying fields, such as baseball diamonds, andin means for stretchingand removing the same. The gun pose of such covers is to protect the eldfrom wet and maintain it in a sufficiently dry condition for use.

My object is to provide efficient and expeditious means for stretchingthe cover over the field, for removing the same when the eld is to beused, and for storing the cover out of the way when not in use.

For these purposes l provide a cover of canvas or other suitableflexible material mounted on a roller which is preferably ventilated, asfor instance formed of slats, to enable a .damp cover to dry out whenrolled up. Power actuated means are provided for rolling up andunrolling the cover. Drums are. provided, operated with the roller, uponwhich are mounted pull ropes which unwind as the cover rolls up and viceversa, said pull ropes being carried under the field to the other sidethereof and thence over pulleys and across the field to be attached tothe loose edge of the cover. Thus the pull ropes serve to draw andstretch the cover across the field when the cover is unwound and toguide and control the winding up of the cover. The ropes are detachablefrom the cover so as to be removed from the playing surface when thecover is rolled up.

l mount the roller in such a manner 4that it may be lowered out of theway into a pit when the cover is rolled up thereon and may be elevatedout of such pit when the cover is to be stretched over the field. Iprovide a pivoted lid for such pit which automatcially raises when theroller is elevated, and closes, conzealing said pit, when the roller islowere The pulleys on the opposite side of the field, over which thepull ropes pass, are mounted in swinging brackets set in a pit, so thatwhen the ropes are detached from the use. Sa'd lids are preferablyprovided with anti-slip ing top surface to prevent accidents to players.

Novel means are provided for raising and lowering the roller, foropening and shutting the pit lids, and for winding and unwinding thecover and the pull ropes. Other novel features of 'construction andarrangement of parts will appear from the followmg descrlption.

n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan View of a baseballdiamond fitted with my invention, the pit lids being shown open indotted lines the roller and pull rope pulleys being shown raised and thecanvas cover stretched over the diamond; the permanent covering beingbroken away for the sake of clearness. Fig. 2 is an enlarged brokenvertical section of the same, showing the roller and pull rope pulleysraised, the cover unwound and stretched across the diamond and the pullropes attached to the edge of the cover; Fig. 3 is an end view of theroller dismounted; Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation of the same; Fig. 5is an enlarged perspective of one of the pull rope pulleys and itsmounting; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail elevation of one of the bracketsby means of which the roller is mounted; Fig. 7 is asimilar view showinga slight modification of the same, and Fig. 8 is a detail in verticalsection, similar to Fig. 2, but showing one of the pull rope pulleybrackets folded down into its pit and the lid of said pit closed.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings:

A represents a baseball diamond or other playing field. B is an opentrench or pit eX- tending along one side thereof and preferably suitablylined with concrete.

C is a permanently closed or covered pit preferably lined with concreteand adjacent to pit B, whose top may be sodded or otherwise covered tocorrespond to the surface of the playing field.

D is a lid 'adapted to close the pit B and pivoted at the edge of saidpit away from diamdnd A. Said lid D is provided withv a surface, l, ofan anti-slipping character to prevent accidents to players. Said lid mabe conveniently pivoted by means of a sha 2 journaled in brackets 3attached to the wall of pit B. At one end said lid is provided with arearwardly extending arm 4, the purpose of which will be ex lained.

5 represents a pair o guide posts fixed vertically in the pit B adjacentto the front wall of said pit and at either end thereof. E and Erepresent a pair of brackets mounted to slide vertically on said posts5. 6 represents a pair of rotary worms vertically mounted in said pit Band engaging threaded vertical bores in the brackets E and E', wherebywhen said worms are rotated said brackets ascend or descend on the posts5 according to thedirection of the rotation o'f the worms.

The brackets E and E are provided 'with journal boxes 8 in which arejournaled the ends of axial shaft 9 upon which the roller F is rigidlymounted. The roller F is preferably composed of an annular series ofslats 10 so that whenl the canvas cover, marked G, is wound upon thesame in a wet condition, the latter may readily dry out without rotting.The ends of the roller F are provided with rope drums 11. i

One end of shaft 9, the end Ijournaled in bracket E, is provided `with arigidly mounted gear 12 which meshes with a gear 13 rigidly mounted on aspur shaft 14 journaled in the bracket E. 15 is a sprocket also rigidlymounted on spur shaft 14 and preferably secured to the gear 13. A chain16 operatively connects the sprocket 15 with a smaller sprocket 17loosely mounted on a shaft 18 journaled in two standards 19 extendingfrom the bottom of the pit C.

20'is a gear loosely mounted and' sliding on shaft 18, and meshing witha smaller gear 21 on the shaft 22 of the reversible motor H.

The hubs of sprockets 17 and 20 are ar-V ranged to interlock when saidsprocket 20 is shifted, as by lever 23, into contact with sprocket 17 Itis thus evident that the roller F may remain stationary or be rotated ineither direction by the motor H, as may be desired.

The worms 6 are provided at their lower ends with rigidly mountedbeveled gear 24 which mesh with beveled gear 25 on the end of a shaft 26horizontally journaled in pillow blocks 27 on the bottom of -pit B.

28 is a sprocket wheel rigidly mounted on shaft 26 and operativelyconnected by means of a'chain 29 with a smaller sprocket 30 looselymounted on the shaft 22 of motor H. 31 is a'clutch member keyed to slideon said shaft 22 and controlled by a lever mechanism 32. By means ofsaid clutch the sprocket 30 may be made to rotate in either directionwith the motor or remain idle. It is evident rection would rotate t eworms 6 in the proper direction to raise the brackets E and E and withthem the roller'F, while the rotation of said sprocket 30 in theopposite direction would lower the roller F.

A rope or cable 33 is attached to the end ofl arm 4 of lid D and passingunder the guide pulleys 34 and 35, extends up through the interior ofthe worm 6, which is made hollow and is attached to the upwardlyextending standard 36 mounted on the bracket E. It is evident that asthe roller F rises, the rope 33 will be drawn upwardly through theworm`6, drawing down on arm 4 and raising the lid D to permit theelevation of the roller F Vice versa, the descent of roller F willslacken said rope 33 and permit said lid to close of its own weight.

I is apit preferably lined with concrete, along the slde of the diamondA, opposite to pit B, and permanently covered and sodded above for thegreater portionvof its length. In one or more places, however, saidpermanent covering is omitted anda hinged lid J substituted. In thedrawings I have shown two of said lids which are rigidly mounted onarock shaft 37 journaled in brackets 38 attached to the outer. wall ofpit I. Said shaft 37 is provided with a rigid arm 39 to whose end isattached a rope or cable 40 which extends through a covered trench orburied pipe 41 under the diamond A and lenters the pit B. Passing overpulleys 42, 43 and 44, said rope is attached to the bracket E so thatwhen the roller F rises, said lids J are opened contemporaneously withlid D and correspondingly closed when said roller descends.

45 are pulleys mounted in brackets 46 whichl are pivoted to swing onbases 47 mounted in the bottom of pit I. The brackets 46 may be eitherelevated, in Fig. 2 when the lids J are raised, ordepressed into the pitwhen the lids are lowered, as shown in Fig. 8.

K are pull ropes or cables wound about the drums l1 on the ends ofroller F, the winding of said ropes being opposite to that of the canvascover G. Said ropes extend through covered trenches or buried pipes 48along the sides of diamond A and over pulleys 49 and 50 in the pit I.When the cover is rolled up,the ends of the ropes K may be coiled up`inthe pit I, as shown in Fig. 8, but when said ropes are to be used, theends of said ropes are led over the pulleys 45, the brackets 46 beingelevated, as shown in Fig. 2, and led over the diamond A and attached bymeans of their hooks 51 to the eyelets 52 on the free edge of cover G.

It is evident that as the cover G is unwound, the pull ropes K are woundup, so that said ropes act to draw and stretch t-he cover over thesurface of the diamond and hold the same in its stretchedand flattenedposition. Vice versa, as the-cover ,is wound up on the roller F, theropes K are unwound from the drums 11, thus slacking said rope'.`l andpermitting the cover to be withdrawn from the diamond, the pull ro'pcs'Kacting as guides to assist in winding up the cover.

'lhe operation of my device is as follows: Assuming that the cover (i isrolled up on the roller F, the latter depressed in the pit lli and thelids l) and .l closed, the clutch 81 is thrown to connect the sprocket30 with the shaft 22 ot'linotor H, thus rotating the Worms 6 and raisingthe roller F, the lidsl D and J automatically rising in unison withsai-d o eration. When the roller F has been raise out of pit B, theclutch 31 is thrown ofi', stopping the elevation of' the roller. Theends of ropes K are now carried over the pulleys 45 and acrossthediamond A'and hooked into the eyelets 52 on the free edge of the coverG. The sprocket 20 is now thrown into engagement with the sprocket 17 bymeans of lever 23 and the roller F and its drums 11 started to rotate inthe direction required to unwind the cover G. As the cover (i unwindsthe pull ropes K are'iwound up on the drums '11,

-' thus drawing the cover tautly over the dia mond A. When the cover hasbeenunwound sufficiently to cover the diamond A,

the sprocket 2O is shifted out of engagement with the sprocket 17, thuscausing the roller F and drums 11 to reni-ain stationary and holding thecover snugly stretched over the diamond. When it is desired to removethe cover, the roller F and drunis 11V are caused to rotate in theopposite direction, winding up the cover aiid unwinding the pull ropesK, thus permitting the cover to be withdrawn across the diamond A and tobe stored on the roller F. The ends of the pull ,ropes are thendisengaged from the edge of the cover G and coiled up in the pit .I andthe bracketsd swung down into said pit, as shown in Fig. 8. The worms 6are their rotated in the opposite direction to that described above,resulting in lowering the roller F and the cover down into the pit B andclosing the lids D and J.

As another method of raising and lowering the lid D, I may provide thebrackets E and E', as shown in connection with bracket l" in Fig. 7,with cams 53 which contact with the lid D and raise the same whentheroller F is raised and permit said lid to descend and close whenl sa idroller is depressed.

I prefer to provide a pit for my cover roller and raise and lower thesame therein in Isubstantially the manner described, but ifdesired, theroller may be mounted above ground in some protected spot. such as underthe grandstand, in which case I may omit the mechanism for raising andlowering. However, 1n such case my arrangement of pull rope pulleysmounted 'on swinging supports contained in a pit'provided with a coverwill be found to be very useful.v

l/Vhat I- desire to claim is':- .y 1 The combination of' a field cover,a`

roller upon which 4the saine nia)1 he wound,

drums rotating in unison with said roller, v

pull ropes wound onsaid drains in suchsafj manner as to unwindwvhilesaid cover is being rolled up'and vice versa, .saidfropes extendinglunder the field to the opposite side thereof, the said opposite side ofthe field being provided with a pit, pulleys mounted in said pit andadapted to be raised out of the same when in use and to be concealed inthe saine when notinr use over which said ropes may be passed to heattached to the free edge of the cover, whereby the rotation of theroller in one direction roller withdraws said cover and rolls the sameup on' said roller, and a lid adapted to close said pit when saidpulleys are not in use.

Q. In combination with a playing field' provided with a pit, a cover forsaid field, a roller for said cover mounted in said pit, means forraising said roller out Aofsaid pit when said cover is to be used, andmeans for rotating said roller.

v 3. In combination, with a playing field provided with a pit, a coverfor said field, a roller for said cover mounted in said pit, means forraising said roller out of said pit when said cover is to be used,means' for rotating said roller, and a lid adapted to close said pitwhen said cover is not in use.

for rotating said roller, a lid adapted to close said pit and meanswhereby when' said roller is raised said lid is autoi'natically openedand when said roller is lowered saidvk lid is automatically closed.

5. In combination with a playing field provided with pits, a cover forsaid field, a. roller for said cover mounted in one o't' said pits,means for raising said roller out of said pit when said cover is to heused, means for rotating said roller, drums rotating in unison with saidroller, pull ropes wound on said drums in such a manner as to unwindwhile said cover is wound upA and vice versa, said ropes extending undersaid field to a sec-ond pit., pulleys over which said ropes may bepassed to be attached to the free edge of said cover whereby therotation of the roller in one direction unrolls and stretches said coverover the field while the opposite rotation of said roller with drawssaid cover andtrolls the same up on said roller, extensible supports forsaid ul- Signed' at Pittsburgh, Penna., this 22nd leys in said secondpit whereby said pul eys day of February, 1913.

may besunk into said second pit when not LEID P DEER in use, lids forsaid pits, and means whereby when said roller is raised said lids areWitnesses:

automatically opened and when said roller W. S. WALSH, is lowered saidlids are automatically closed. R. F. DILWORTH.

